System and method for providing optically coded information

ABSTRACT

An active optical machine-readable tag (i.e. optical tag) is provided that is addressable and readable within a line-of-sight of a reader device, such as a mobile device equipped with a camera, at substantially large distances. A method and a system are provided for an active optical tag and a camera-based reader thereof that facilitate asynchronous communication at data rates that are sufficiently high for practical uses, while reducing the flicker associated with the low-frequency optical carrier to a level hardly noticeable by people. The optical tag may be formed as an array of light emitting elements, arranged in a single dimension (linear) or two dimension (planar) arrangement. The array may be embodied as part of a large display unit.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to coded information. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for an active optically coded tag and a camera-based sensor thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, an increasing number of various technologies have been used to improve user engagement with physical objects and scenes, for example using software applications for mobile devices. Such “environment conscious” applications typically retrieve object-related content from an external source (e.g. the internet) and present it to the user. Real-world mobile engagement generally occurs in one of two ways, wherein information content is delivered to the user based on location (“push” interactions), or upon an interaction with an object (“pull” interactions) such that users are granted full control over the information content they consume.

While there are several mobile device positioning technologies available for the deployment of “push”-oriented applications (e.g. GPS, etc.), “pull”-oriented applications are still impractical for many indoor and outdoor scenarios. This is mainly because current mobile engagement technologies have inherent limitations when it comes to directional targeting, operating range, and basic security. Specifically, these technologies either require a short range of operation with Near Field Communication (NFC), a sufficiently large tag to be detected from a distance with a Quick Response (QR) code, or provide information about distance but not direction to object with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication. Image recognition may also be problematic because it typically suffers from high latencies and because objects are not identified uniquely.

For Pull interactions to work effectively in any indoor and outdoor environment, objects of interest should be targetable from users' immediate position without having to approach the objects. The users should also be able to retrieve information that relates to the exact object they target. For example, obtain promotional information about a real-estate project when driving by, or get a discount coupon while watching a billboard ad from a large distance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an active optical machine-readable tag (i.e. optical tag) that is addressable and readable within a line-of-sight of a reader device at substantially large distances, said reader being a mobile device equipped with a video camera.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and a system for an active optical tag and a camera-based reader thereof that facilitate asynchronous communication at data rates that are sufficiently high for practical uses, while reducing the flicker associated with the low-frequency optical carrier to a level hardly noticeable by people.

Systems and methods are provided for conveying information comprising an optical tag with cloud server communication, wherein the reader device receives the unique identifier code (UID) of the optical tag and thereby conveys digital information pertaining to the optical tag or to a real-world object attached to the tag.

There is thus provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a system for conveying machine-readable information, the system comprising an optical tag, comprising an array of light emitting elements, wherein at least one light emitting element emits a predefined reference clock signal, a controller operably coupled to the optical tag, and configured to allow modulation of light emissions from the light emitting elements, and a receiver device, configured to allow detection of information conveyed by the optical tag, wherein the modulation is configured to control the lighting scheme of the light emitting elements, wherein the detected information is synchronized using the reference clock signal, and wherein the modulation of said light emissions provides changes in lighting that are faster than 30 changes per second and substantially not noticeable by a human eye.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for conveying machine-readable information is provided, the method comprising emitting light signals with an array of light emitting elements, wherein at least one light emitting element emits a predefined reference clock signal, modulating light emissions from the light emitting elements, capable of conveying a signal carrying the modulated information, receiving and detecting the modulated signal, synchronizing the detected signal using the reference clock signal, and decoding the received signal wherein the modulation is substantially not noticeable by a human eye.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for conveying machine-readable information is provided, the method comprising emitting light signals with an array of light emitting elements, modulating light emissions from the light emitting elements, capable of conveying a signal carrying the modulated information with differential coding, receiving and detecting the modulated signal, phase coding the binary clock signal, and decoding the received signal, wherein the modulation is substantially not noticeable by a human eye.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for conveying machine-readable information with a video display having a plurality of pixels capable of illuminating in different wavelengths is provided, the system comprising at least one distinctive cluster of pixels within the video display, wherein at least one pixel emits a predefined reference clock signal, a controller operably coupled to the distinctive cluster of pixels, and configured to allow modulation of light emissions from the pixels, and a receiver device, configured to allow detection of information conveyed by the cluster of pixels, wherein the modulation is configured to control the lighting wavelength scheme of the cluster of pixels, wherein the detected information is synchronized using the reference clock signal, and wherein the modulation of said light emissions provides changes in lighting time that are faster than 30 changes per second and substantially not noticeable by a human eye.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for conveying machine-readable information with a video display having a plurality of pixels capable of illuminating in different wavelengths is provided, the system comprising at least one distinctive cluster of pixels within the video display, a controller operably coupled to the distinctive cluster of pixels, and configured to allow modulation of light emissions from the pixels with differential coding, and a receiver device, configured to allow detection of information conveyed by the cluster of pixels, wherein the modulation is configured to control the lighting wavelength scheme of the cluster of pixels, and wherein the modulation of said light emissions provides changes in lighting time that are faster than 30 changes per second and substantially not noticeable by a human eye.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a machine-readable optical tag is provided, comprising an array of light emitting elements, wherein at least one light emitting element emits a predefined reference clock signal, and a controller, configured to allow modulation of light emissions from the light emitting elements, wherein the modulation is configured to control the lighting scheme of the at least one light emitting element, and wherein the modulation of said light emissions provides changes in lighting time that are faster than 30 changes per second and substantially not noticeable by a human eye.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a system for conveying machine-readable information, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is schematically illustrates several representations of differently shaped arrays of light emitting elements of an optical tag, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates several notions of sub-arrays and of multi-LED light emitting elements, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an arrangement where a projected optical tag is embodied in a video stream projected by a video display, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram illustrating the transmission process of the optical tag, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram demonstrating the bit stream transmitted by the optical tag and restored at the receiver side, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a nine LED array, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an optional structure of a data packet conveyed by the optical tag, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic representation of a linear optical tag in which LEDs are arranged along a narrow strip, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 schematically illustrates linear optical tag used to define a particular plane in space, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a localized optical tag used to determine the position of the receiver device, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates basic encoding of a temporal bit sequence at the transmitter and an encoded signal negotiated by the receiver, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a temporal bit sequence transmitted using two complementary color channels of a single RGB LED, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 schematically illustrates two possible manifestations of a fully exposed data block when using the complementary channels scheme, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 schematically illustrates a temporal bit sequence transmitted using a redundant, phase-shifted, color channel, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates even-cycle-inverse transformation and its contribution to flicker alleviation, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 schematically illustrates a bit sequence conveyed by a single data channel is encoded using differential coding in a clock-less transmission, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 schematically illustrates a bit sequence conveyed using differential coding in a clock-less transmission is recovered at the receiver side, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 illustrates complementary pairs of colors as means of reducing the flicker associated with the low-frequency carrier, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 shows a block diagram of the basic procedure a receiver uses when decoding tag transmissions, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 a block diagram of the logic used by the receiver when decoding signals transmitted using redundant phase-shifted channels, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 schematically illustrates a possible utility of the optical tag in the field of out-of-home (OOH) advertising, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 schematically illustrates two utilities made possible using a linear optical tag that are related to in-store retail (A) and to exhibitions (B), according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 24 schematically illustrates an optical tag apparatus wherein the reader device is not positioned within a line-of-sight of the tag, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that, for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. However it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments of the invention.

According to some embodiments of the invention, an active optical machine-readable tag (i.e. optical tag) may be operable using Visible Light Communication (VLC). It is appreciated that VLC allows digital information to be wirelessly transmitted via modulation of light beams emitted by one or more light-emitting elements with ubiquitous computing, for instance Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) may transmit signals at 500 MHz, and some LEDs may also transmit at faster frequencies.

However, the use of some commercially available mobile cameras as the light sensor for a receiver may impose several challenges, mostly relating to the low sampling rate, typically around 30 frames per second in most of current mobile devices. It should be noted that the main concerns are: low frequency light oscillations may be perceived as disturbing flicker to the human eye, low bit-rate may result in unacceptably long transmission times, and the receiver (i.e. the camera) may not be synchronized with the transmitter (i.e. the optical tag).

In some embodiments of the invention, an optical tag is provided, comprising a single light-emitting element or a plurality of light-emitting elements generally distributed in an array of some shape. It is appreciated that at least some of the light emitting elements may comprise adjacent sub-emitters, each emitting light in a different wavelength.

Referring now to FIG. 1, which schematically illustrates a system for conveying machine-readable information, generally designated 100, according to some embodiments of the invention. System 100 comprises an optical machine-readable tag 101 having a plurality of light emitting elements, a mobile device 102 operable as a reader of optical tag 101 and an external computerized device 103 in communication with mobile device 102. It is appreciated that mobile device 102 may be any computerized device having means (e.g. a camera) for reading a tag, such as a mobile phone, a tablet, a digital camera, a laptop, wearable devices such as a smart-watch, any other mobile computerized device, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, it is appreciated that external computerized device 103 may be any device, in a network (wired or wireless) communication with mobile device 102, having processing and memory means such as a PC, a server, a database, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, external computerized device 103 may be configured to allow processing of data from mobile device 102, for instance external computerized device 103 may be a cloud based server in wireless communication with mobile device 102. In some embodiments, the light emitting elements of optical tag 101 may be arranged in a single two-dimensional array.

In some embodiments, optical tag 101 may be connected to a tangible object 104 which is within a line of sight of a user 105 and also of mobile device 102. Mobile device 102 may include a commercially available video camera that user 105 may aim at the direction of optical tag 101 in order to read machine-readable information 106 therefrom. It should be noted that machine-readable information 106 may be conveyed via modulation of the light beams from the plurality of light emitting elements.

It is appreciated that said beam modulation may be manifested as nearly uniform illumination to the average human eye (with negligible noticeable flicker or with no noticeable flicker at all), by employing sufficiently high carrier frequencies. Yet, the corresponding machine-readable information may be conveyed at lower frequencies (or rates) that commensurate with frame rates of commercially available mobile cameras (typically about 30 frames per second).

According to some embodiments, the light emitting elements of optical tag 101 are monochromatic LEDs, wherein the light emitting elements may also be multi-color LEDs. Each LED may emit light in at least three primary colors (typically: Red, Green and Blue). Infrared (IR) LEDs may also be used with optical tag 101, as long as the wavelength of their emission may be detectable by image sensors found in commercially available mobile cameras, as further described hereinafter. It is appreciated that optical tag 101 disclosed herein may employ any type of light sources capable of emitting monochromatic or multi-colored light, the intensities of which may be changed at very high rates. Unless otherwise specified, the term LED shall be used henceforth to denote a light emitting element.

According to some embodiments, the light emitting element of optical tag 101 may be a cluster of several LEDs all transmitting corresponding and/or identical information. This feature may be particularly useful in cases where a light emitting element is designed to occupy an area, and/or have beam intensity, that are larger than achievable using a single LED. Similarly, the light emitting element may be a distinct cluster of irradiating pixels in a video display of the kind found in TV sets, computers, mobile devices, etc.

According to some embodiments, machine-readable information 106 conveyed by optical tag 101 may include at least one unique identification code (UID) 107. The reader device 102 may use UID(s) to retrieve tag-specific content stored in external computerized device 103, for instance via a wireless network connection. In some embodiments, UIDs may be hardcoded such that each optical tag 101 is explicitly identified, and thus may achieve resistance against imitation or replication attempts.

It is appreciated that modulated light beams emanating from various light emitting elements of optical tag 101 may reach the image sensor(s) of reader device 102 via some indirect paths. For example, the light beams may be deflected by one or more successive reflecting surfaces before reaching reader device 102 that is located within a line-of-sight of the farthest reflecting surface. Said farthest reflecting surface may be diffusive to some extent to allow multiple receivers 102 to read optical tag's 101 information 106 when positioned at different angles relative to that farthest reflecting surface.

According to some embodiments, a cloud server in communication with the reader of the optical tag, may receive a UID(s) of the optical tag and thereby send back to the reader digital content pertaining to that specific optical tag and/or instructions regarding the proper use of said digital content. In some embodiments, the cloud server may further receive from the reader of the optical tag additional information related to the scene wherein the optical tag may be embedded and/or pertaining to the reader device and/or pertaining to the user operating the reader device. Such information may be processed by the server in conjunction with the UID(s) so that the server may send back to the reader device digital content that matches preferences of the user operating the reader device and/or preferences of the owner of the optical tag.

Referring now to FIG. 2, which schematically illustrates several representations of differently shaped arrays 201 a-201 f of light emitting elements 202 of optical tag 101, according to some embodiments of the invention. It is appreciated that multi-colored LEDs normally emit three primary colors (Red, Green, Blue) and thus can convey up to three discrete streams, or channels of binary information using simple on-off keying (OOK), as further described hereinafter.

It is appreciated that the number of LEDs 202 embedded in an array (or sub-array) of an optical tag 101 and the spatial dispersion of the LEDs may be determined based on various design parameters, such as the nominal reading distance of optical tag 101 as well as the desirable bit rate (i.e. transmission throughput). Design considerations may include optical effects that govern the size of the projection (in pixels) a light pulse has on the image sensor of the receiver mobile device 102. It is therefore desired to avoid excessive overlap of adjoining LED projections, in order to allow the reader algorithms to discriminate the signals conveyed by the LEDs 202.

Thus, there may be a tradeoff between overall bit rate and the size of optical tag 101. In some embodiments, it is desired to minimize the size of optical tag 101 while maximizing the throughput. Since the feasible bit rate by a single color channel of an LED 202 may be limited by the sampling rate of the receiver (e.g. ˜30 frames per second), the number of LEDs 202 in an array may be in fact a key design parameter. For many practical uses, a 3×3 LED array may be a practical choice in terms of form-factor vs throughput. Nevertheless, any number of light emitting elements 202, such as, but not limited to: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 16, or 17 may be spatially arranged in each array or sub-array of optical tag 101.

Referring now to FIG. 3, which schematically illustrates several notions of sub-arrays and of multi-LED light emitting elements 202, according to some embodiments of the invention. In some embodiments, the LED array of optical tag 101 may comprise nine sub-arrays 301, each consisting of for example four LEDs 202. Such sub-arrays 301 may convey independent data packets, and therefore optical tag 101 may simultaneously convey nine different pieces of information. Optionally, all LEDs 202 of a sub-array 301 may be configured to transmit identical signals, thus rendering each sub-array 301 into a “single” light emitting element providing a stronger light source. The latter case may be useful where the size and/or the illumination power of commercially available LEDs may be insufficient for the requirements of a particular tag design.

In some embodiments, optical tag 101 may comprise an internal (or external) controller. This controller may modulate the intensity of the light emitted by each sub-emitter of each LED of optical tag 101 in order to convey information using one or more of signal encoding schemes, further described hereinafter. The transmission protocol may additionally include various signal manipulation techniques that are utilized for optical communication.

According to some embodiments, on-off keying (OOK) may be used to modulate the light emission of the LEDs, representing digital data as the presence or absence of a carrier wave. Namely, a light pulse of prescribed intensity of a specific primary color (e.g. Red, Green or Blue) represents ‘1’ symbol in that channel, and absence of light represents ‘0’ symbol. Nevertheless, other coding schemes, such as (but not limited to) amplitude-shift keying (ASK), may also be used to modulate the light emission of the LEDs.

It should be noted that the notion of “channels” being used here relies on the fact that typical mobile cameras incorporate distinct Red, Green and Blue light sensors (or color filters) that are sensitive to wavelengths similar to those emitted by RGB LEDs. Thus, camera-based tag readers may detect and evaluate three different signals sent by the three different color elements of a single LED. Thereby, an RGB LED may be regarded as simultaneously transmitting three discrete data channels. Optionally, color normalization may be performed in order to improve color contrast and reduce cross-channel errors.

Referring now to FIG. 4, which schematically illustrates an arrangement where a projected optical tag 401 is embodied in a video stream projected by a video display 400 (or by a video projector projecting onto a reflective screen), according to some embodiments of the invention. It is appreciated that each light emitting element 202 may be a cluster of RGB pixels working in tandem, such that projected optical tag 401 may be created.

It should be noted that data packets carrying the information of optical tag 101 may be continually transmitted, such that following the end of one data packet comes the beginning of a second, sequential and identical data packet. Specifically, identical packets are transmitted in a repetitive manner such that the trailing part of one packet may be followed by the header of the next packet. In some embodiments, only portions of the sequential data packets are identical, whereas other portions (e.g. a security code) may change in time, as further described hereinafter.

In some embodiments, a limited number of data packets, or even a single packet, may be transmitted following the detection of some wake-up signal external to optical tag 101. For example, a burst of a camera flash initiated by the reader device may initiate transmission of at least one data packet. It should be noted that such initiation may be particularly useful in cases where optical tag 101 is battery-operated and energy must be conserved.

In some embodiments, the information of optical tag 101 may be arranged into a single data packet, or several independent data packets, of finite lengths. Independent data packets may be transmitted using separate clusters (or sub-arrays) of LEDs arranged in different locations across the transmitting surface of optical tag 101. It is appreciated that henceforth, references made to transmission of a data packet may also mean the simultaneous transmission of multiple independent data packets, all based on a single clock, or several synchronized clock signals.

In some embodiments, spatio-temporal multiplexing may be used to split the transmission of a data packet among at least some of LEDs 202 in the corresponding sub-array, for example sub-array 301 (as shown in FIG. 3). Thus, each LED 202 may transmit a portion of the data, concurrently with all the other LEDs based on a common clock. For example: a 24 bits data packet may be encoded using eight monochromatic LEDs, wherein each LED transmits three consecutive binary digits during three consecutive clock cycles.

According to some embodiments, the effective viewing angle of an optical tag may be constrained by selecting LED types based on their beam angle (e.g. spatial angle of half intensity). For example, laser diode emitters may be used to construct a directional optical tag that conveys information to a localized region in space and/or to gain longer effective distances.

Referring now to FIG. 5, which shows a flow diagram illustrating the transmission process of optical tag 101, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that the bit stream 501 carrying the information of optical tag 101 may be encoded using the spatio-temporal encoder 502 before being transmitted by the LEDs 202.

There may be numerous ways by which a stream of binary signals can be multiplexed across the three dimensions of the optical carrier: the temporal, the spatial and the color dimensions. One basic approach is to slice the data packet to be transmitted into “Np” data blocks 503 such that each data block is spatially encoded and transmitted using all the LEDs of the array (or sub-array). The data blocks are transmitted consecutively via modulated light beams 504 of the LEDs at a rate that commensurate with the typical frame rate of the receiver device (e.g. a camera). Optionally, the entire data packet may be transmitted, once that all of the data blocks had been transmitted.

Referring now to FIG. 6, which shows a block diagram demonstrating the bit stream 501 transmitted by optical tag 101 and restored at the receiver side, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that the modulated light beams 504 of the LEDs may be first recorded by the image sensor of the receiver mobile device across a series of at least “Np” consecutive video frames 601. The transmission protocol guarantees that every data block sent by optical tag 101 may be captured by at least one of said consecutive video frames 601, wherein the nature of the transmission may be asynchronous. The bit stream 501, comprising the original data packet, may then be restored by decoder 602 using the “Np” video frames 601. In some embodiments, a larger number of video frames 601 may also be utilized, depending on the general actual error-level of the transmission.

It is appreciated that the information included in a data packet may be constant or it may change with time. It may also originate from different sources: portions of the information may be permanently stored in a memory of the optical tag. Other portions of the information may be passed to the controller of the optical tag by some internal or external component, such as a temperature sensor or a pressure gage. Yet other portions of the information may be time-dependent variables used for security purposes and/or for authentication of the optical tag. Further portions of the information may relate to error recovery mechanisms.

In some embodiments, the binary information of the optical tag may be transformed using certain error-correction codes prior to the actual transmission to enable some level of error recovery at the receiver side. Error-correcting codes may include (hut are not limited to) “BCH codes”, “Reed-Solomon codes”, “turbo codes”, “Hamming codes”, etc.

According to some embodiments, a reader apparatus corresponding to the optical tag is provided (for instance as shown in FIG. 6), comprising a video camera, a processing unit and a compatible tag reading algorithm. In some embodiments, the reader may be a camera-equipped mobile device, such as (but not limited to) a smartphone, for instance executing a dedicated tag reader application.

When reading the information sent by the optical tag, a dedicated tag reading algorithm (embedded in the reader device) may instruct an image sensor of the camera to capture a series of consecutive video frames and store these images in the memory of the device. It should be noted that the number of consecutive captured frames should be sufficiently large to include the binary data of at least one instance of the data packet(s) transmitted by the optical tag.

If the reader device is positioned within a line-of-sight of the optical tag, targeting the tag (or a furthest reflecting surface thereof), each frame captured by the receiver device may include projections of the monochromatic or multi-colored light pulses emitted by the LEDs during the exposure time of that frame. In some embodiments, the dedicated tag reading algorithm may control settings of the camera (such as shutter speed), in order to make sure that the exposure is in accordance with requirements of the transmission protocol.

In some embodiments, light pulses may be recorded by the image sensor of the receiver device as clusters of pixels having elevated brightness in at least one color channel. The size and shape, as well as hue and brightness distributions, of the clusters may depend on various factors, such as: the illumination intensity of the light source (e.g. the LED), the distance and the angle between the light source and the receiver device (e.g. the camera), the optics of the receiver and their settings, atmospheric effects, ambient light, etc.

In some embodiments, the lighting intensity of color pulses emitted by an LED may be modified in order to provide illumination that does not disturb the human eye, since some colors at similar intensities may appear different to the observer.

Once captured, the dedicated tag reading algorithm may analyze the series of consecutive video frames in order to detect all the projections of light pulses emitted during the exposure time of the frames. Pulse detection may be based on algorithms dedicated for computer vision and object recognition, which may exploit different characteristics of LED projections, like color, shape and the intermittency to discriminate them from the image background.

Referring now to FIGS. 7-8, which illustrate an optical tag 700 with a nine LED array and an optional corresponding structure of a data packet conveyed by the optical tag 700 respectively, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that in this example the optical tag 700 includes nine LEDs, each LED is transmitting a single data channel. The same structure of data packets may apply to any other number of LEDs with some minor modifications.

It is appreciated that the data packet in this example consists of “Np” data blocks 707. The data packet may be divided into three parts: a header part 701 (or start frame delimiter) represented by a first data block (“Block 1”) 707, a payload (or body) part 702 represented by Np−2 data blocks 707, and a trailer part 703 represented by a last data block (“Block Np”) 707. It is appreciated that each block may be conveyed by the LED emissions during a single frame-to-frame period of the receiver camera. In some embodiments, the header part 701 may include multiple data blocks, and similarly the trailer part 703 may include multiple data blocks. It should be noted that typically, several identical data blocks may be transmitted during each frame-to-frame period of the receiver camera to accommodate with carrier frequencies of the optical tag that are substantially higher than the frame rates of ordinary receiver cameras.

The header part 701 denotes the beginning of the transmission of the payload part 702 of the packet. The header part 701 may consist of some non-viable sequence of bits which the decoder can interpret as a header mark. It may also include special identifying codes (e.g. a Barker sequence code). In addition, the header part 701 may possess some distinguishable physical attributes, such as colors and/or light intensities that differ substantially from those used for the transmission of the other portions of the data packet.

In some embodiments, the header pattern is spatially coded using all the LEDs in an array (or sub-array) so that it can be detected by the receiver using minimum number of video frames. In the example of a nine LED array (as shown in FIG. 7), each block 707 may carry information that is spatially encoded using eight data LEDs #0-#7, wherein LED #8 conveys a clock signal 704 such that together there are nine binary signals (or sub-blocks) 708.

It should be noted that if the spatial position of clock LED 704 is predefined, for instance at center of a 3×3 array, then the receiver device may decode information conveyed by that LED as a clock signal in order to correctly synchronize the other LEDs. Optionally, predefined array templates may be provided, for example for 3×3, 4×4, or linear arrays, wherein the receiver may locate a clock LED, or several clock LEDs, based on the predefined templates. For example, the receiver device identifying an optical tag with a 4×4 LED array, and identifies the clock LED at top left corner. In some embodiments, a calibration may be required between the receiver device and at least one optical tag in order to calibrate the synchronization between the signals.

Header part 701 may include a unique series of bits (e.g. all ‘1’s) that the decoder is instructed to interpret as a header. It may denote the beginning of transmission of the rest of the data packet. In some embodiments, the header may also include a special marker (or anchor) bit(s) 705 (“0” in this example) that indicates the upright orientation of the optical tag. Such markers may be of particular importance in cases where the optical tag is not affixed in position and reconstruction of the original information by the receiver may depend on identifying the correct angular orientation of the optical tag.

In some embodiments, payload part 702 may contain the information of the optical tag, which normally includes a UID 107. Trailer part 703 may consist of administrative information such as a special security code.

According to some embodiments, the optical tag may be pre-configured with at least one unique identifier number (UID) that is permanently stored in a non-volatile memory of the optical tag and is included in the transmission of the data packet(s). Optionally, each data packet may consist of a respective single UID.

Referring now to FIG. 9, which shows a schematic representation of a linear optical tag 900 in which LEDs 202 are arranged along a narrow strip, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that each segment 901, 902, . . . , 903 of the tag 900 represents one data block of a total of “Np” blocks that make the data packets. In other words, each segment is the spatial state of a single color channel during different consecutive frame-to-frame periods of a receiver device. It should be noted that FIG. 9 represents a simplified example, whereas in more general cases each data block may be encoded using some multi-color coding scheme.

It is appreciated that LEDs 202 are grouped into several sub-arrays 914, each comprising nine LEDs 202, as an exemplary configuration while any other number of LEDs 202 may also be possible. If sub-arrays 914 are electrically/logically (and/or optically) isolated then each may convey a different data packet that is associated with the general location of that sub-array 914 along the optical tag 900. In particular, different UIDs may be assigned to different sites along the optical tag, making it “linearly addressable”.

In some embodiments, LEDs 202 of the linear optical tag may be evenly spaced along its longitudinal axis so there would be a need for a delimiter symbol to allow the reader mobile device to distinguish between adjacent sub-arrays 914. Thus, LED #0 (indicated 915) of each of the sub-arrays 914 may perform as the delimiter symbol by transmitting logical zeros (‘0’s) in header block 901, which otherwise contains all logical one (‘1’s). Nonetheless, there may be numerous different methods by which adjacent sub-arrays 914 are differentiated.

According to some embodiments, clock LEDs #8 of all the sub-arrays 914 (e.g. the last in a linear sub array) along the linear optical tag 900 may operate in phase relative to a common clock of the optical tag 900. In some embodiments, the clocks of the sub-arrays 914 may have some phase shift relative to one another, as further described hereinafter.

It is appreciated that with a suitable phase difference, light pulses of adjacent sub-arrays have smaller likelihood of being “partially exposed” (i.e. un-readable) at the same time by the receiver mobile device. This may be useful for error correction in cases where the sub-arrays convey similar or identical information. An additional advantage of introducing the phase differences among sub-arrays 914 may be achieved with variable phase shifts of 0° and 180° between the clocks of adjacent sub-arrays 914 that may be used to convey an additional layer of information at a scale greater than that of the sub-arrays 914. In other words, if clock signals along the linear optical tag are distinctively legible at distances far greater than those of the regular data LEDs 202 (e.g. using several brighter LEDs 202 to convey each clock signal), than multiple in-phase and out-of-phase clock signals may jointly encode a stream of information that is uncorrelated with the information conveyed by the sub-arrays 914 (i.e. the clock LEDs may perform as data LEDs at the higher tier).

Referring now to FIG. 10, which schematically illustrates linear optical tag 1010 used to define a particular plane 1011 in space and to address different points within that plane, according to some embodiments of the invention. A one-dimensional array may be useful in defining 2D planes in space incorporating the array. In particular, a horizontal LED strip may be constrained to define a vertical or a horizontal plane and a vertical LED strip can define any useful vertical plane.

It should be noted that a dedicated tag reading algorithm of the receiver mobile device may be used to decide which plane among the infinite number of 2D planes, incorporating the tag's axis, to address. In many practical scenarios, however, reference would probably be made to a vertical plane or to a horizontal plane (in the receiver's coordinates).

Further, if linear optical tag 1010 is constrained to define a particular plane 1011 in space, the absolute location assigned to a UID (e.g. that of the clock LED), together with the distance ΔY normal to the axis of linear optical tag 1010 may be used to uniquely address any point within that particular 2D plane. Optionally, distances ΔY normal to the tag may be measured using the same units used to measure distances along the axis of linear optical tag 1010.

It is appreciated that there are two scales by which distances can be measured along linear optical tag 1010: a coarse scale being the length of the sub-arrays and a fine scale being the LED-to-LED spacing. Since linear optical tag 1010 may transmit multiple data packets using multiple clusters of LEDs (e.g. with sub-arrays), a linear optical tag 1010 may transmit a number of UIDs corresponding to different sites along the axis of the optical tag. Therefore, if the LEDs are uniformly spaced and the sub-arrays have identical lengths, then the UIDs may mark regularly spaced intervals along the axis of linear optical tag 1010. As sub-arrays typically convey UIDs, the coarse scale essentially may refer to the distance between tangible points designated by UIDs.

In some embodiments, the scale used for the axial direction ΔX may also be used to measure distances ΔY perpendicular to the axis of linear optical tag 1010, in the predefined plane 1011. If, for example, the origin of the 2D plane is set at the left end of linear optical tag 1010, indicated as (0,0), then a general point 1012 below or above the axis may be assigned using the vector [Δx,Δy] measured from the origin. Similarly, one may measure distances Δz perpendicular to plane 1011 and address a general point in 3D space using the vector [Δx,Δy,Δz] measured from the origin.

If a receiver mobile device 1013 is arbitrarily positioned with its image reading means (e.g. a camera) facing linear optical tag 1010, then it may capture some perspective projection of linear optical tag 1010. Knowing the actual spacing of the LEDs (based on the tag's UIDs), it may be possible to measure the distribution of LED impressions (in pixels) on the image sensor of the receiver mobile device 1013, and then use this information to calculate the location and the orientation of linear optical tag 1010 relative to receiver mobile device 1013. If further the absolute location and orientation of linear optical tag 1010 are made available to the receiver mobile device 1013 (e.g. from server having UIDs data) then the receiver may be able to calculate its own absolute location. It is appreciated that the precision at which receiver mobile device's 1013 position may be determined depends on many factors. However, accuracy may improve if two or more linear optical tags, having different orientation in space, are captured and processed together.

In some embodiments, the optical tag(s) may be utilized as mechanism to infer position, wherein the receiver may infer its own position relative to the known location of the optical tag(s). Optionally, at least one optical tag may be utilized to implement an indoor positioning mechanism (in contrast to outdoor positioning that is based on external satellite positioning for instance), wherein the receiver may infer its own position relative to the known location of the optical tag(s).

Referring now to FIG. 11, which schematically illustrates a localized optical tag 1100 (having square LED matrix in this example) used to determine the position of the receiver device 1101, in a manner similar to the linear optical tag, according to some embodiments of the invention.

It is appreciated that knowing the actual geometry of the LEDs array, it may be possible to measure the distribution of LED impressions on the image sensor of the receiver mobile device 1101 and use this information to trace the position of optical tag 1100 in the receiver mobile device's 1101 coordinates based on geometrical perspective considerations. If further the absolute location and angular orientation of optical tag 1100 (for example known size ‘D’) are made available to the receiver mobile device 1101 then the receiver may be able to calculate its own absolute location. Here again, the accuracy at which the mobile device's 1101 location may be determined, may improve if two or more optical tags 1102 are captured and processed at the same time, wherein the optical tag's characteristic may be known from a server based on UIDs of the optical tag(s).

In some embodiments, RGB channels of at least one LED of the optical tag do not convey machine-readable information. Such channels rather serve decorative aspects of the tag or convey messages legible to human observers. For example, a flashing LED(s) may indicate that the information of the optical tag has been changed.

Notwithstanding, RGB channels of the optical tag that convey machine-readable information may also serve decorative aspects and/or branding aspects of the tag, or they can convey messages legible to human observers. For example, clock LEDs may use a color scheme different than that of data LEDs, and thereby contributing to a characteristic visual pattern of the optical tag.

Referring again to data packets of the transmission protocol (for instance as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9), for each data packet transmitted by the optical tag, at least one color channel of at least one LED transmits a clock signal (i.e. the clock LED). The clock signal may comprise a sequence of regularly spaced pulses of light. Namely, each clock period has a pulse of light (‘1’) followed by absence of light (‘0’), with the transition occurring at midpoint of the period. A method for a clock-less transmission is further described hereinafter.

According to some embodiments, LEDs in the array (or sub-array) that do not convey clock signals (i.e. the data LEDs), are slaved to a corresponding clock signal. These LEDs may convey binary data that are phase encoded (or Manchester coded) using the clock signal. According to this scheme, every bit to be transmitted may be represented by a combination of a pulse (‘1’) and an absence of a pulse (‘0’) according to a coding convention such as described in “Table 1”:

TABLE 1 Data Clock Transmitted Logical 0 1 0 0 1 Logical 1 1 1 0 0

Such coding may increase the perceived pulse frequency when transmitting arbitrary sequence of bits since there is a light pulse associated with both logical ‘1’ and logical ‘0’. This coding scheme may therefore be useful in mitigating the visible flicker due to the low-frequency optical carrier.

To recover the information of the optical tag, the receiver device may correlate each temporal bit stream it detects with the corresponding clock signal. Since all bit streams had been originally phase encoded using that clock signal, they may now be decoded by reversing the scheme used for the encoding (e.g. that of “Table 1”).

Referring now to FIG. 12, which schematically illustrates basic encoding scheme of a temporal bit sequence at the transmitter and an encoded signal negotiated by the receiver, according to some embodiments of the invention. Optionally, on-off keying (OOK) may be used to modulate the optical carrier. The original data signal 1201 may be phase (or Manchester) coded using the clock signal 1202 in order to obtain the encoded signal 1203.

At the receiver device, the phase coded signal may be regularly sampled by the sequence of video frames 1204, using exposure times (indicated “TExposure”). In some embodiments, the clock period (indicated “TClock”), or some integer multiple thereof, of the transmitter's clock signal 1202 may be set to be marginally longer than the frame-to-frame time interval (indicated “TFrame”) of a camera by a factor A, such that TClock=TFrame+A. This difference in repetition rates between the transmitter and the receiver may cause a steady phase drift that prevents phase locking of the two clocks (i.e. of transmitter and receiver).

It should be noted that since the frame acquisition is not always synchronized with the incoming data signal, occasionally some frames 1204 may capture light pulses undergoing transition from ‘1’ to ‘0’ or vice versa (indicated as 1205). Such pulses may be referred to as “partially exposed”. In a single channel transmission, partially exposed pulse images are typically smaller and less bright than their fully exposed counterparts.

It is appreciated that the exposure time “TExposure” may be a key design parameter, which may be optimized for best overall performance. On the one hand, the exposure should be short to minimize reading errors due to ambiguous pulse exposures. On the other hand, the exposure should be long to allow the image sensor to accumulate sufficient light and record distinctive pulse images. In some embodiments, exposures longer than about ¼ of the clock period “TClock” of the optical tag may contribute to unacceptably low signal-to-noise ratio.

Referring now to FIG. 13, which schematically illustrates a temporal bit sequence transmitted using two complementary color channels of a single RGB LED, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that the minor signal 1301 is the inverse (binary ones' complement) of the major phase coded signal 1302.

Since every pulse of one color (e.g. with minor signal 1301) is always followed by a pulse of the second color (e.g. with major signal 1302), and since the frequency of the carrier signal is normally set beyond the color-fusion threshold of the human eye, an observer may perceive LED color which is the chromatic combination of the major color and the minor color. It is appreciated that the use of two complementary color channels may reduce the visible flicker associated with the low-frequency transmission compared to a single channel transmission.

At the receiver, most image exposures 1204 record either light pulses of the major color or light pulses of the minor color. However, frame exposures 1204 occurring during pulse transitions 1205 may integrate some light of the major color and some light of the minor color, resulting in LED images (or partial area thereof) that have normal brightness and color which is a mix of the major and the minor colors.

Referring now to FIG. 14, which schematically illustrates two possible manifestations of a fully exposed data block when using the complementary channels scheme, according to some embodiments of the invention.

It should be noted that segment ‘A’ depicts the case in which frame exposure 1204 takes place during a pulse of the major clock 1401, for instance located at the center of a 3×3 LED array of the optical tag. Segment ‘B’ depicts the case where the same data block is exposed during a pulse of the minor clock 1402. It is appreciated that in order to determine the actual bit values of a data block, the receiver device must first evaluate the state of the corresponding clock.

According to some embodiments, in order to confine optical flicker to a level hardly noticeable by people, the pulse frequency of the modulated light must be above a level generally known as the “flicker fusion threshold” of the human eye. While this threshold depends on various objective and subjective factors, it is commonly accepted that most people perceive monotonic oscillations of light as uniform illumination starting at frequencies around 30 Hertz.

Evidently, a clock rate of 30 periods per second may be insufficient to eliminate flicker of real-world transmissions since arbitrary phase (or Manchester) coded bit sequences exhibit low frequency content, wherein the data sequence 1,0,1,0,1,0 . . . , for example, may appear at half the clock frequency. In some embodiments, to effectively mitigate flicker for arbitrary binary sequences, the transmitter's clock rate should be 60 Hz or higher. This means that at least two clock cycles would elapse during a single frame-to-frame time interval of a receiver camera operating at 30 frames per second (fps). Hence, the incoming signal may be under-sampled by the receiver device.

According to some embodiments, the clock rate of the optical tag may be set to be some integer multiple of the receiver device's frame rate (optionally, with a small perturbation, as further described hereinafter). Then, to avoid bit losses, each coded symbol may be transmitted repeatedly for the number of clock cycles occurring during a single frame-to-frame interval of the receiver device (e.g. at 90 Hz each bit may be repeated three times).

According to some embodiments, the visible flicker created by low carrier frequency may be further reduced by using “redundant” signals. Optionally, a minor (“redundant”) color channel, carrying the inverse version (i.e. binary ones' complement) of a major coded signal may be conveyed alongside the major channel by the same LED.

Consequently, every pulse of a first color channel may be complemented by an absence of pulse of the second color channel, and vice versa. If the transitions take place at a rate beyond the “color fusion” threshold of the human eye, an observer may see LED color which is the chromatic combination of the major and the minor colors, regardless of the order in which the pulses are introduced. Given the clock frequency, for every pair of major and minor colors there would be a certain ratio of illumination intensities that minimizes the perceived flicker.

Referring now to FIG. 15, which schematically illustrates a temporal bit sequence transmitted using a redundant, phase-shifted, color channel, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that the clock rate of the optical tag may be roughly twice the frame rate of the receiver device (e.g. of the camera), and therefore each bit symbol may be repeated two times. This particular clock rate is selected merely for the simplicity of demonstration. Optionally, such a rate may be too low for preventing visible flicker. Flicker-less transmission is typically achievable at actual clock rates that are quadruple the frame rate of commercially available mobile cameras (e.g. at ˜120 Hz), and higher multiples thereof.

A minor data signal 1501 (as 1st color channel), has a corresponding shape as a major phase coded signal 1502 (as 2nd color channel), with a phase shift of about 90 degrees relative thereto. Similarly, a minor clock signal 1503 has a phase shift of about 90 degrees relative to the major clock signal 1504. Optionally, any phase shift smaller than 90° may be used with a minor channel, as long as the time equivalent of that phase shift is equal to or greater than the exposure time of the receiver device's camera. It should be noted that signal 1507 depicts the original bit sequence that has been phase coded using major clock signal 1504 to generate major data signal 1502.

Such redundant minor channels may be utilized when a video frame 1505 is partially exposed by the major signals 1502, 1504, wherein it is also fully exposed by the minor signals 1501, 1503. In such cases, the receiver may revert to decoding the minor signal 1504 and thus overcome the ambiguity related to the direction of the pulse transition 1506 of major data signal 1502.

According to some embodiments, the major channel and the minor channel have identical colors. However, pulse intensities of the one channel are considerably lower than the pulse intensities of the second channel, so that the receiver may distinguish them as different data channels.

In a more elaborate scheme, two or three primary (RGB) colors may serve as two or three non-overlapping major channels. For each major color, the two remaining primary colors, comprising the “white-complement” of that color (since the combination of all three colors may create the white color), serve as the inverted (i.e. binary ones' complement) minor channel, as further described hereinafter.

It has been found that the modulation scheme comprising pairs of complementary phase coded channels only reduces flicker to an acceptable level at relatively high clock rates, usually too high to maintain low counts of partially exposed video frames.

Hence, flicker may further be decreased by applying transformation to all color channels of the optical tag. For each clock channel, even-numbered cycles may be replaces by their inverse form (binary ones' complement). That is, the ordinary sequence 1,0,1,0,1,0, . . . , now becomes 1,1,0,0,1,1,0,0, . . . having half the pulse frequency of the original sequence. Odd-numbered cycles are left intact. Similarly, data channels may be transformed in the same manner as their corresponding clock channels. Namely, even-numbered cycles are replaced by their inverse form, and odd-numbered cycles are left intact.

Since temporal bit sequences are generally phase coded using their corresponding clock signal(s), applying identical transformation to both the data signal and the clock signal may not affect the information carried by the data signal. The above described transformation (henceforth called “even-cycle-inverse transform”) may be effective in reducing flicker because it may eliminate much of the low-frequency content that is associated with arbitrary bit transitions. A transformed signal goes through higher (double) frequency phases during bit changes, while the original signal undergoes low frequency phases.

According to some embodiments, the visible flicker due to low carrier frequency may be further reduced using some phase cancellation scheme. Namely, light intensities are adjusted for each pulse in each color channel so as to compensate for low-frequency content that is associated with the phase coded bit streams.

Referring now to FIG. 16, which schematically illustrates even-cycle-inverse transformation and its contribution to flicker alleviation, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that bit sequence 1601 is first phase coded using ordinary clock signal 1602 (e.g. at nearly twice the frequency of the receiver device) to produce the ordinary phase coded signal 1603. Even-cycle-inverse transformation may then be applied to the clock signal 1602 and to the data signal 1603 to produce the transformed clock signal 1604 and the transformed data signal 1605.

This may be executed by concurrently inverting (binary ones' complement) every second cycle of both the data and the clock signals. Specifically, starting at a raising edge of clock pulse, for every second cycle, a pulse (‘1’) may be substituted by absence of a pulse (‘0’) and vice versa. Since the data signal and the corresponding clock signal are transformed in just the same manner, the information carried by the transformed data signal may remain unaffected, as long as it is decoded using the transformed clock signal.

It should be noted that the transformed clock signal 1604 may now have double the pulse width (and half the frequency) of the original clock signal 1602. Similarly, the “dominant” pulse width of the transformed data signal 1605 may also be doubled, wherein arbitrary bit streams have a dominant frequency due to bit repetitions. At the same time, bit transitions (‘0’ to ‘1’ and vice versa) that originally involved pulse widths twice the dominant width 1606, may now involve pulses that are half the dominant width 1607. It is appreciated that when applying the even-cycle-inverse transform, the underlying clock frequency of the transmitter, and the corresponding number of bit repetitions, may be doubled in order to restore flicker-less transmission.

There may be a positive aspect and a negative aspect to applying the even-cycle-inverse transform in conjunction with an increase in clock frequency. The positive outcome is a reduction in visible flicker owing to the removal of low frequency content associated with random bit transitions. The negative outcome is a moderate increase (on average) in ambiguous pulse readings due to higher count of pulse transitions per transmitted symbols in the transformed signal.

According to some embodiments, the optical tag may be more efficient if clock LEDs are spared and the information of the optical tag is transmitted using data LEDs alone. This is particularly the case when the array(s) of the optical tag comprise a small number of LEDs (therefore the transmission overhead is high). The general encoding scheme disclosed herein uses clock signals merely to resolve the “polarity” (180° phase) ambiguity of the phase (or Manchester) coded signals at the receiver side. Clock-less transmission avoids the polarity question by employing differential coding, which ignores absolute bit values and focus on bit transitions.

Essentially, differential coding may be implemented such that every bit of the encoded sequence is the sum (binary addition) of a preceding bit of the encoded sequence and the current bit of the original sequence. Namely, if xi is a bit intended for transmission, and yi is the bit actually transmitted, then yi=y(i−1)⊕xi. The differentially encoded signal may then be transmitted by the optical tag using any of the methods disclosed herein for non-differential signals.

At the receiver side, recovery of the differentially encoded signal may commence in the same manner as for non-differential signals. However, instead of decoding the original bit sequence through correlation with a clock it may decoded by reversing the differential coding process. That is, each bit value xi of the original bit sequence may be reconstructed by subtracting the corresponding bit yi of the differentially encoded signal from the preceding bit y(i−1), so that: xi=yi⊕y(i−1).

The benefits of clock-less transmission may come with a penalty of extra effort needed for error corrections. Any error detected during reception (e.g. due to partially exposed light pulses) may affect the decoding of two consecutive bits, as opposed to one bit in the non-differential case.

Referring now to FIG. 17, which schematically illustrates a bit sequence conveyed by a single data channel that is encoded using differential coding in a clock-less transmission, according to some embodiments of the invention. It is appreciated that the original bit sequence 1701 may be transformed such that bit transitions of the differentially encoded bit sequence 1702 represent logical ‘1’s of the original bit sequence and no transitions represent logical ‘0’s. Next, the encoded signal 1702 may be phase coded using the ordinary clock signal 1703. It may then undergo even-cycle-inverse transform in order to attain the signal actually transmitted 1704.

Referring now to FIG. 18, which schematically illustrates a bit sequence conveyed using differential coding in a clock-less transmission that is recovered at the receiver side, according to some embodiments of the invention.

Referring to the example of FIG. 17, the phase (or Manchester) coded signal 1704 may now be detected by the receiver device (e.g. by the camera). It is appreciated that in absence of a clock signal in the transmission, the decoder is unable to establish the “polarity” of the received signal (180° phase ambiguity). If the virtual clock signal 1801 is used for the decoding, the signal 1802 may be recovered, and if the inverted clock signal 1803 is used, the signal 1804 may be recovered. The virtue of differential coding becomes clear noting that it does not matter which signal, 1802 or 1804, is eventually processed. Deferential decoding of both signals yields the same original bit sequence 1701.

The effect of invalid pulse readings on the decoding of differentially coded signals may be understood by inspecting the ambiguity 1805 associated with video frame 1806. When decoding the incoming signal 1704 the ambiguity 1805 may lead to an unresolved bit value in the interchangeable, differentially coded, signals 1802 and 1804 (marked with ‘?’). Since this bit may be used in both a backward and a forward difference calculations during restoration of the original bit sequence 1701, there are ultimately two unresolved bits 1807 and 1808 in the recovered bit sequence.

In some embodiments, the unidirectional communication between the optical tag and the camera-based tag reader makes it impossible to synchronize the clocks of the two devices. If the clock rate of the transmitter is forced to match (or be very close to) the clock rate of the receiver device, or any integer multiple thereof, the receiver might occasionally be locked capturing only partially exposed frames.

According to some embodiments, the clock rate of the transmitter may be forced to match the frame rate of the receiver device, or an integer multiple thereof. Phase lock situations may then be detected by the receiver's algorithm that may, upon detection of a problem, ignore the bad video sequence and instruct the receiver's camera to capture a new sequence of at least Np video frames. Since the timing of the new data acquisition may be arbitrary, the new video sequence has a good chance of capturing a complete set of fully exposed pulse image that may be used to reconstruct a valid data packet.

According to some embodiments, phase lock situations may be avoided by deliberately setting the clock of the optical tag to be marginally slower than designated “harmonic” of the receiver's frame rate. In other words, if the nominal clock period “TClock” is selected to be 1/nth of the frame-to-frame interval “TFrame” (for instance as shown in FIG. 12), than the actual clock period would be TClock-ac=TFrame/n+Δ, where Δ<½TClock is a time shift.

This frequency perturbation may result in a steady drift of the phase difference (at a rate that depends on A) between the two clocks, which periodically may cause some of the video frames to include partially exposed pulses. If two complementary color channels are transmitted by an RGB LED, then the color of the partially exposed LED projection may be some chromatic combination of the two colors. Optionally, partially exposed pulse images may not be decoded because information regarding the direction of pulse transition had been practically lost.

According to some embodiments, this type of receiver-induced errors may be mitigated by setting the exposure time of the camera “TExposure” to be a fraction of the transmitter's clock period. Specifically, the exposure time may be set to be 4 of the clock period or smaller. This may ensure that there are more frames capturing either light pulses (‘1’s) or absence of pulses (‘0’s) than frames with partial exposures.

According to some embodiments, ambiguously exposed video frames may be dropped (or ignored) during processing, and replaced by equivalent frames from a following, or a preceding sets of “Np” consecutive frames containing other instances of the same data packets. Alternatively, only part of the LED images captured in a frame are partially exposed, for instance when the optical tag is read from a short distance, and rolling shutter effects of image sensors become apparent. Then dedicated tag reading algorithm of the receiver mobile device may process ambiguous LED images through the general error-correction mechanism of the transmission protocol.

Referring now to FIG. 19, which illustrates complementary pairs of colors as means of reducing the flicker associated with the low-frequency carrier, according to some embodiments of the invention. The color space (gamut) of an RGB LED on the CIE 1931 Chromaticity Chart 1900 is defined by the triangle 1901, the vertices of which correspond to the three primary colors: Red, Green and Blue. In a basic implementation, the LED may convey a single data stream using two primary colors. A major color channel conveys the phase (or Manchester) coded bit sequence. A minor, redundant, color channel may convey the inverse form (binary ones' complement) of the major signal, such that each pulse of the minor signal may be aligned with an absence of a pulse of the major signal, and vice versa. Hence, the three possible pairs of pure major color and pure minor color are: Red & Green, Red & Blue and Green & Blue. In each case, a human observer may perceive LED illumination which is the chromatic combination of the corresponding color pair: Yellow, Magenta and Cyan, provided that the clock rate of the tag is beyond the color-fusion threshold of the human eye.

It is appreciated that the major and the minor channels are not restricted to using pure RGB colors. For each channel, a mixed color can be used comprising two or three overlapping primary colors of different relative intensities. Placing the major color and the minor color on the CIE Chart, it may be possible to locate the perceived color at a midpoint of the vector connecting the two colors.

Although any pure or mixed color may be chosen for the major and for the minor colors, the contrast between the two colors (i.e. the Euclidian distance on the CIE Chart) should be sufficiently large so that the channels may be sufficiently uniquely detectable by the receiver device at operating conditions.

For example, a pulse of the primary color Red may be complemented by the color Cyan which is the combination of Green and Blue. If for each major color the intensities of said two remaining primary colors are properly calibrated, then the combined emissions of the RGB LED may be perceived by a human observer as pure white (or at least some level of gray), at high enough pulse rates. Altogether, such a scheme may allow for six different symbols (i.e. Red & Cyan, Blue & Yellow, Green & Magenta) to be transmitted by an RGB LED. Thus, each LED may convey up to 2.585 (=log[6]/log[2]) binary bits of information during a single frame-to-frame time interval of the receiver. This value may be compared to 3.0 binary bits per cycle that may be conveyed by an RGB LED, using unconstrained OOK modulation.

It should be noted that the complementary major and minor channels are not limited to using the three primary RGB colors. In fact, any number of pure or mixed colors (combinations of different intensity levels of the RGB colors) may be used to transmit a major signal, as long as for each major color there exists a pure color, or a mixed color, that is the white-complements of this major color, to be used as the minor signal. Such pairs of colors are generally known in the art as metameric matches of the color white.

According to some embodiments, the basic scheme of complementary color pairs may be further extended such that multiple pairs of major and minor color channels may be used to convey multiple streams of information per LED emitter. The requirement for minimum flicker may dictate that all pairs of major and minor colors that are used would be “metameric matches” of the same color. That is, all color pairs may yield the same perceived color when displayed sequentially at clock rates beyond the color-fusion threshold of the human eye.

Evidently, a most valuable color-pair system is the one having perceived color of White. This system employs the three primary RGB colors as the major colors, and their respective white-complements as the minor colors. Hence, the color pairs used are: Red & Cyan, Blue & Yellow, Green & Magenta. The white-complement colors reside on the edges of the gamut chart of the LED opposite to the corresponding primary color. Therefore, this system may have the highest possible contrast. The three color-pairs may convey up to six symbols per RGB LED, compared to eight symbols in the case of the three unconstrained RGB colors.

It is appreciated that various pairs of major and minor colors may be used to create a combined (perceived) color other than white. Nevertheless, the number of metameric matches for colors different than white drops significantly as the perceived color diverges from the center of the CIE color space of an LED. Furthermore, even with perceived whitish colors there is a limit to the number of color pairs that can be used with the LEDs of the optical tag due to the requirement for significant contrast between the major and the minor colors and among the pairs themselves. One would generally wish to maximize the Euclidean distances in the CIE color space among all the colors used to make it easier for the receiver to discriminate them as different data channels in real-world conditions.

Referring now to FIG. 20, which shows a block diagram of the basic procedure a receiver uses when decoding tag transmissions (with no redundant channels), according to some embodiments of the invention. The process may begin with the receiver camera capturing a series of at least “Np” video frames that include images of the modulated light beams 2001, “Np” being the number of data blocks comprised in a data packet. Next, the dedicated tag reading algorithm may analyze the video frames trying to detect all pulse images in all the frames to obtain a complete set of the spatial and temporal raw data 2002. Some of the frames, however, may include ambiguities due to partially exposed pulse images, or due to other sources of channel/receiver noise.

In some embodiments, when bad frames are detected 2003, the dedicated tag reading algorithm may instruct the camera to capture another series of “Np” video frames 2004 which may then be processed in the same manner described above 2005. At this point there should be enough video frames to identify at least two header sections indicating the beginning of the payload section of the data packet 2006. Once the correct order of the data blocks is established, it may be easy to replace bad blocks from one series of frames with their good counterparts in another series of frames in order to obtain a single contiguous data set that contains all the information needed to restore the data packet(s) 2007. In cases where good data blocks are still missing, additional sequences of at least “Np” video frames may be captured until a contiguous set of good data blocks is obtained 2008. The original data packet(s) may then be restored 2009 by reversing the schemes used to encode the data.

It is generally possible, by properly adjusting the time variables of the system, to have partially exposed frames occur once every series of “Np” video frames taken, or even less frequent than that, for instance not having two bad frames during the transmission of a single data packet. Furthermore, it may be possible to have the repetition of partially exposed frames NOT equal to “Np” or to an integer multiple thereof. Furthermore, it may be possible to have only one partially exposed frame at a time (i.e. never two in a row). Optionally, it may be possible to identify a single header block even if it is partly exposed, as no data block in that data packet is also partially exposed.

Referring now to FIG. 21, which shows a block diagram of the logic used by the receiver when decoding signals transmitted using redundant phase-shifted channels, according to some embodiments of the invention.

The process may begin with the camera of the receiver capturing a series of at least “Np” video frames that include records of modulated light beams of the optical tag 2101. Next, the dedicated tag reading algorithm of the receiver may analyze the frames to obtain a complete set of raw data across the spatial, temporal and the color domains 2102. A header section(s) may then be located in the data to indicate the beginning of the payload section of the data packet 2103. Each data frame may be checked for partially exposed LED images 2104, and if none are found, decoding may be proceeded using the primary channels 2105. If ambiguous LED images are found, then the corresponding bit values are recovered using the minor channels 2106. The process may be completed once all data blocks have been correctly recovered and the original data packet has been reconstructed.

Referring now to FIG. 22, which schematically illustrates a possible utility of the optical tag in the field of out-of-home (OOH) advertising, according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that the tag 101 may be affixed to a billboard frame 2201 and serve as a link to online content that is complementary to the advertisement displayed.

When the user 105 aims mobile device 102 at optical tag 101, the dedicated tag reading algorithm of the device 102 may employ the camera to identify and decode binary signals 106 that are associated with the light emissions of optical tag 101. The information so conveyed may include at least one unique identifier (UID) 107 that explicitly identifies the billboard. The dedicated tag reading algorithm may further communicate with an external computerized device 103, through some local-area-network or a wide-area-network. It may therefore send the UID of optical tag 101 to external computerized device 103, along with additional information, in order to retrieve ad-related content 2202. The additional information sent to the server may include for example: identification data of the reader device, geo-location of the reader device, information pertaining to the user of the reader device, a text message to be send, etc. External computerized device 103 (e.g. a cloud based server) may aggregate, store, manage, analyze, and further transmit information that relates to the plurality of optical tags and readers thereof that are in general communication with the server.

Referring now to FIG. 23, which schematically illustrates two utilities made possible using a linear optical tag that are related to in-store retail (A) and to exhibitions (B), according to some embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that when linear optical tag 2301 is placed horizontally along the base of a product display (A) or at the top of an exhibition wall (B) it may define vertical two-dimensional planes in which every point is addressable.

It is appreciated, nevertheless, that linear optical tag 2301 may be placed at any elevation and at any orientation within the designated two-dimensional plane. In particular, the optical tag may be positioned vertically. When a user aims a camera-equipped mobile device configured as reader of the optical tag, the dedicated tag reading algorithm of the device may read information conveyed by various sites (or sub-arrays) along the linear optical tag (including, but not limited to UIDs) and use this information to retrieve prescribed information from a server computer through a wireless network.

The dedicated tag reading algorithm may then use pixel measurements among LED projections on the image sensor to relate different parts of the information to different points within the 2D plane defined by the linear optical tag. Optionally, certain parts of the information 2302 may be presented to the end-user in a graphical way, such that the graphics overlay the actual scene shown on the screen of the mobile device.

According to some embodiments, parts of the information overlaid on the screen may be interactive 2303. Namely, they may perform as buttons that trigger device-related events or as hyper-links to additional information.

In some embodiments, parts of the information that are graphically overlaid on the display screen of the reader device may be three-dimensional in nature. For example, the graphics may embody the visual representation of a product or of a building. Such 3D visuals may be dynamic and/or interactive. That is, the user may be able to move or rotate the virtual object using gestures of his fingers or by walking to a nearby location while the 3D visuals change their appearances accordingly.

Referring now to FIG. 24, which schematically illustrates an optical tag apparatus wherein the reader device 2401 is not positioned within a line-of-sight of the tag 2402, according to some embodiments of the invention.

In some embodiments, light beams of the various light emitting elements of the tag may be projected onto one or more reflective surfaces 2403 from which the beams are deflected in an angle before being captured by the image sensor of the reader device 2401. To be effective, such embodiments may employ directional light emitting elements, such as laser diodes, that emit collimated light beams. Optionally, optical tag 2402 concurrently emits at least two structured groups of modulated light beams, each conveying a different stream of information. Each group of light beams may be directed (e.g. using acousto-optic modulator) onto a different reflective surface 2403: for instance surface A and surface B.

It is appreciated that though a single optical tag may emit multiple structured groups of light beams aimed in several directions (for example—hemi spherically), each group may carry a different stream of information. In some embodiments, the farthest reflective surface on the path of each group of beams may be diffusive to allow multiple receiver devices to read the information conveyed by those beams from different angles.

Unless explicitly stated, the method embodiments described herein are not constrained to a particular order in time or chronological sequence. Additionally, some of the described method elements may be skipped, or they may be repeated, during a sequence of operations of a method.

Various embodiments have been presented. Each of these embodiments may of course include features from other embodiments presented, and embodiments not specifically described may include various features described herein. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for communicating information, the method comprising: providing at least one light emitting element comprising a first group of at least one sub-emitter configured to emit light at respective first color and a second group of at least one sub-emitter configured to emit light at respective second color mutually-complementary to said first color; modulating light emission of said first group of sub-emitters to emit one symbol of said information using said first color during a first part of a clock period; and modulating light emission of said second group of sub-emitters to emit said same one symbol of said information using said second color during a second part of said clock period.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an integer multiple of said clock period is at least one of: longer by a fraction of a clock period than a sampling period of a receiver device; and longer by a fraction of a clock period than a frame period of a standard video camera.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the frame rate of said video camera is 30 or 60 frames-per-second.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein additional symbol of said information is phase encoded into said clock period by using said second color during said first part of said clock period and using said first color during said second part of said clock period.
 5. The method according to claim 1, additionally comprising: providing a light emitting element according to claim 1 configured to emit a reference clock signal wherein said first and second colors alternating between said first and second parts of said clock period synchronously with said information; and binary coding said information into said clock period in one of the following options: said first and second colors coinciding in time with same first and second color of said clock signal; and said first and second colors reversely coinciding in time with same first and second color of said clock signal.
 6. The method according to claim 1, additionally comprising: emitting light by the at least one light emitting element in at least one second pair of mutually complementary third and fourth colors; and encoding said information in a sequence of said clock periods using said first and second colors and said second pair of colors.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the combined intensity and combined chromaticity of said color pairs is perceived to have no flicker to a naked human eye.
 8. The method according to claim 1, additionally comprising: using said same light emitting element to convey messages legible to human observers at a rate substantially lower than rate of said clock.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said clock period comprises more than two parts and wherein said modulating comprises at least one of: emitting said symbol using at least one of said first color and second color during more than one part of said clock period; and not emitting light during at least one part of said time period.
 10. A device for communicating information, the device comprising: at least one light emitting element comprising a first group of at least one sub-emitter configured to emit light at respective first color and a second group of at least one sub-emitter configured to emit light at respective second color mutually-complementary to said first color; and a controller coupled to said first group of sub-emitters and to said second group of sub-emitters, said controller configured to modulate light emissions by said first group of sub-emitters and to said second group of sub-emitters; wherein said modulation of said light emissions comprises emitting one symbol of said information using said first color during a first part of a clock period, and emitting said same one symbol of said information using said second color during a second part of said clock period.
 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein an integer multiple of said clock period is at least one of: longer by a fraction of a clock period than a sampling period of a receiver device; and longer by a fraction of a clock period than a frame period of a standard video camera.
 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the frame rate of said video camera is 30 or 60 frames-per-second.
 13. The device according to claim 10, wherein said modulation of said light emissions additionally comprises emitting an additional symbol of said information said additional symbol being phase encoded into said clock period by using said second color during said first part of said clock period and using said first color during said second part of said clock period.
 14. The device according to claim 10, additionally comprising: an additional light emitting element according to claim 10 coupled to said controller; wherein said controller is additionally configured to control said additional light emitting element to emit a reference clock signal; wherein said controller is additionally configured to control said emissions of said first and second colors alternating between said first and second parts of said clock period synchronously with said information; and wherein said controller is additionally configured to effect binary coding of said information into said clock period in one of the following options: said first and second colors coinciding in time with same first and second color of said clock signal; and said first and second colors reversely coinciding in time with same first and second color of said clock signal.
 15. The device according to claim 10, wherein said at least one light emitting element is further configured to emit at least one second pair of mutually complementary third and fourth colors; and said controller is further configured to encode said information using said first and second colors and said second pair of colors in a sequence of said clock periods.
 16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the combined intensity and combined chromaticity of said color pairs is perceived to have no flicker to a naked human eye.
 17. The device according to claim 10, wherein said controller is additionally configured to control at least one of said light emitting elements to convey messages legible to human observers at a rate substantially lower than rate of said clock.
 18. The device according to claim 10, additionally comprising: said clock period comprising more than two parts; and said modulation additionally comprises at least one of: emitting said symbol using at least one of said first color and second color during more than one part of said clock period; and not emitting light during at least one part of said time period.
 19. A computer program product comprising a tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when executed by a processor of a network communication device instruct the processor to: control at least one light emitting element comprising a first group of at least one sub-emitter configured to emit light at respective first color by modulating light emission of said first group of sub-emitters to emit one symbol of said information using said first color during a first part of a clock period; and control a second group of at least one sub-emitter configured to emit light at respective second color mutually-complementary to said first color by modulating light emission of said second group of sub-emitters to emit said same one symbol of said information using said second color during a second part of said clock period.
 20. The computer program product according to claim 19, wherein an integer multiple of said clock period is at least one of: longer by a fraction of a clock period than a sampling period of a receiver device; and longer by a fraction of a clock period than a frame period of a standard video camera.
 21. The computer program product according to claim 20, wherein the frame rate of said video camera is 30 or 60 frames-per-second.
 22. The computer program product according to claim 19, additionally comprising instructions to modulate an additional symbol of said information phase encoded into said clock period by using said second color during said first part of said clock period and using said first color during said second part of said clock period.
 23. The computer program product according to claim 19, additionally comprising instructions to control an additional light emitting element to emit a reference clock signal; wherein said first and second colors alternating between said first and second parts of said clock period synchronously with said information; and wherein said control additionally comprises binary coding said information into said clock period in one of the following options: said first and second colors coinciding in time with same first and second color of said clock signal; and said first and second colors reversely coinciding in time with same first and second color of said clock signal.
 24. The computer program product according to claim 19, additionally comprising instructions to control said light emitting element to perform: emitting at least one second pair of mutually complementary third and fourth colors to encode said information using said first and second colors and said second pair of colors in a sequence of said clock periods.
 25. The computer program product according to claim 24, wherein the combined intensity and combined chromaticity of said color pairs is perceived to have no flicker to a naked human eye.
 26. The computer program product according to claim 19, additionally comprising instructions to control said same light emitting element to convey messages legible to human observers at a rate substantially lower than rate of said clock.
 27. The computer program product according to claim 19, additionally comprising instructions to control said light emitting element so that: said clock period comprises more than two parts; and said modulation comprises at least one of: emitting said symbol using at least one of said first color and second color during more than one part of said clock period; and not emitting light during at least one part of said time period.
 28. A method for communicating information, the method comprising: detecting, using a video camera, at least one of a first color and a second color, of light emanating from a light emitting element, the light including the first color during first part of a clock period; and the second color during a second part of said clock period, said second color being mutually-complementary to said first color; and demodulating a data symbol from at least one of: said first color; said second color; said first part of said clock period; and said second part of said clock period.
 29. The method according to claim 28, additionally comprising: synchronizing said demodulation to at least one of said clock period and said detection of said first color and said second color.
 30. A computer program product comprising a tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: detect, using a video camera, at least one of a first color and a second color, of light emanating from a light emitting element the light including: the first color during first part of a clock period; and the second color during a second part of said clock period, said second color being mutually-complementary to said first color; and demodulate a data symbol from at least one of: said first color; said second color; said first part of said clock period; and said second part of said clock period.
 31. The computer program product according to claim 30, wherein the instructions additionally cause the processor to synchronize said demodulation to at least one of said clock period and said detection of said first color and said second color. 